Shupp's state wrestling title is top local sports story for 2012

Local sports stars came up with all of those and more in 2012, highlighted by a state wrestling title from Vacaville High School senior Johnny Schupp.

Schupp helped lead the Bulldogs to even more mat success.

The local highlights went beyond the high school to professional ranks, as Vacaville graduate Josh Kaddu was draft by the Miami Dolphins, and ex-Bulldog teammate Zack Nash made the Arizona Cardinals roster as a free agent.

Former Vanden standout Kris Negron made his major league baseball debut with the Cincinnati Reds, while ex-Viking Andrew Aplin was drafted in the fifth round by the Houston Astros.

At the collegiate level, former Vacaville star Clayton Jack reached the NCAA wrestling meet for the fourth time with Oregon State, and later was named the Beavers male athlete of the year.

Will C. Wood's Tyler Sickler won his second Sac-Joaquin Section Division III cross country title, leading a huge year by local runners.

Vacaville runners had a big year on the track, led by super-sophomore Pattriana Perry.

Perry could reach even higher heights as a junior, and she could be in fast company.

Here is a quick look at the year that was:

Schupp wins state title, leads 'Dogs

Johnny Schupp became Vacaville High School's 10th CIF state wrestling meet champion, pinning all five of his opponents at the state meet in Bakersfield in March.

Vacaville finished in sixth place as a team, six points out of fourth.

Vaca won the D-I North and Sac-Joaquin Section Masters team titles. Kasey Klaus, Gionn Peralta and Schupp all won Masters crowns. Nine Bulldogs qualified for the state meet.

Ten Dogs won MEL titles and Schupp accepted a football scholarship to Colorado State. Vaca won the section team dual title (47-19 win over Folsom in the final).

Vacaville opened the 2012-13 season ranked No. 41 in the nation, according to Intermat Wrestling.

Locals land in the NFL

Vacaville product Josh Kaddu became a Rose Bowl champion when his Oregon Ducks downed Wisconsin 45-38 on New Year's Day. But his big year was just getting started.

The middle of his year was even bigger, as the linebacker was chosen by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of April's NFL draft (155th pick overall).

Fellow former Bulldog Zack Nash wasn't drafted, but still landed with the Arizona Cardinals as a free agent. He was on the practice squad for most of the season, but was elevated to the active roster just before the Cardinals played at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers.

Another ex-'Dog, Kyle DeVan, signed on with the Tennessee Titans, his fourth NFL team, and saw action late in the season.

Former Will C. Wood standout Jarrett Bush played his seventh season with the Green Bay Packers, and is headed to the playoffs next week.

Dixon product Dave Ball played in his eighth NFL season, with the Titans, but was hampered by injuries.

Ex-Vikes star on diamonds

Kris Negron finally got the call he had been waiting for from the Cincinnati Reds.

Negron, a veteran utility player in the minor leagues, was called up by the Reds on June 6. He had been playing with Class AAA Louisville. He made two appearances in the first week, the first as a pinch-runner on June 7 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He drew a walk as a pinch-hitter against the Detroit Tigers on June 9.

Negron finished his brief stint with the Reds by going 1-for-4. He also scored a pair of runs. He was sent back to Louisville when Scott Rolen came off the disabled list.

Also, for Vanden star Ryan Lipkin reached Class AAA with the Sacramento River Cats of the Oakland A's organization.

Another former Vanden star, Andrew Aplin, was drafted in the fifth round out of Arizona State by the Houston Astros with the 159th overall pick.

Jack posted 39 wins as a heavyweight, including the Pac-12 Conference title for the second straight year. He went on to earn All-America honors with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. He qualified for the NCAA meet for the fourth straight season.

Jack finished 39-3. He later was named the school's male athlete of the year.

'Dogs takes seconds

Vacaville High School's boys and girls track and field teams both finished second in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I meets in May, and later combined to send five individuals and two relay teams to the CIF state championships.

Pattriana Perry, only a sophomore, led the way, finishing fourth in both the 100 meter and 300 hurdles races at the state meet. Teammate Daria Cook was right behind Perry in the 300, and Reed White added a seventh-place finish in the pole vault.

In the section meet, Vacaville's girls finished with 63 points, just behind first-place Monterey Trail (68). The Bulldog boys finished with 68 points, second only to Jesuit (73).

Earlier in the season, Vacaville's Curtis Bleasdale broke a 27-year-old Monticello Empire League meet record with a heave of 186 feet, 9 inches in the discus.

Vaca swims to success

Vacaville's Pierre Archambeau won Sac-Joaquin Section titles in both the 100-yard backstroke and 200 individual medley races in May, leading the Bulldogs to a fifth-place finish as a team. Archambeau's 100 back time of 49.84 seconds was 0.04 seconds off the section record. The senior also set school records in both the backstroke and IM (1:52.9).

Kyle Castro, another senior, added a school record in the 100 butterfly (51.42), finishing third in the section. He also was fifth in the 200 freestyle (1:42.6), and sophomore Matt Abernethy was fifth in the 100 fly (51.56).

Cross country success

Tyler Sickler won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III cross country title for the second year in a row, and his supporting cast was even better this time around.

Sickler and the Wildcats finished third as a unit and advanced to the CIF state meet, highlighting a successful local season.

All four teams advanced to the state meet, along with Vacaville's Jordan Kurtz and Breanna Sewell.

Wood's boys had the highest state finish, placing 15th as a squad while Sickler took 37th individually. Dixon's boys were 18th, led by a 29th-place finish from Coy Chance. The VCS girlks and Dixon girls both finished 21st.

Biggs exit

After 20 seasons at the top and almost four decades on campus, Vacaville High School graduate Bob Biggs left the UC Davis football program in 2012.

Biggs, who quarterbacked the Bulldogs in the late 1960s and the Aggies in the early 1970s, had a 35-year coaching career at UCD. He posted a 140-78-1 record as a head coach over the last 20 years, second only to Hall of Famer Jim Sochor on the Aggies' win list.

The Aggies went just 4-7 in Biggs' final season, but the ex-Bulldog went out in style, winning his final game against rival Sacramento State 34-27 in the 58th Causeway Classic.

Falcons grounded

Solano College's football team was the victim of budget cuts in 2012.

After back-to-back seasons in bowl games, the Falcons were shut down by a down economy. The school voted in April to do away with football and swimming teams, and attempts to raise enough funds to keep the programs afloat were unsuccessful.

Solano will not field a team in 2013, either. The school would like to field a football team in the future, but there is no timetable to come up with the minimum $50,000 needed.

'Dogs rule MEL ... again

Vacaville's football team played its toughest schedule ever, and advanced to the second round of the section playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.

But the Bulldogs' most impressive streak came before the playoffs ever started. Vacaville dominated the Monticello Empire League again, becoming the first school ever to win four straight MEL football titles and running its league winning streak to a record 21 games.

Vacaville finished 8-4 overall, but two of its losses came against teams that won section titles, including Sac-Joaquin Section Division II champion Folsom, and section and state Division I champion Granite Bay. The Bulldogs also beat an eventual section champion in Marin Catholic, and lost to another section runner-up in Oak Ridge.

Best of the rest

* Dixon native Nick Watney won a PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff event, The Barclays, and finished No. 4 in the final FedEx Cup standings. He secured spots in all four major tournaments for next season. Watney finished the year with $3,044,224 in earnings, and even won a fall event, the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October.

* Fairfield resident Manuel "Tino" Avila, won all five of his pro boxing bouts in 2012 to improve to 11-0 overall, but his biggest moment may have come just before the year ended, when he fought for the first time as a pro at Vacaville's Georgie Duke Center, where he honed his boxing skills in the Vacaville Police Activities League. Avila knocked out Ricky Lopez of Oxnard in the eighth round of their super bantanweight bout before a packed house at the Duke Center.

* Wood graduate Amy Glass was named the 2012 Amateur Athletic Inc. Award winner, given to the top senior gymnast in the NCAA. Glass competed in the NCAA gymnastics championships all-around competition for Boise State.

* Vacaville graduate Tim Tatum was named a second team NAIA All-American after a stellar senior season at Menlo College. He was the California Pacific Conference Player of the year, leading the league in rebounding (10.3 per game) while scoring 15.3 points per night.

* Vanden's girls basketball team won the SCAC title, and Lindsay Littlejohn was named the league's most valuable player. The Vikings finished the season 22-9, and reached the opening round of the Northern California tournament.

* Vacaville's baseball team finished 19-11, advancing to double-elimination play in the section North tournament. Anthony Gonsolin signed a letter of intent to pitch at St. Mary's, and several other Bulldogs will continue to play in college.

* Vacaville's Central League age 10-11 all-star baseball team advanced to the Division 2 tournament in Watsonville. Vacaville won District and and Section crowns during its postseason run.

* Vacaville graduate Alyssa Landrith pitched a perfect game for Rutgers University's softball team, the first by a Scarlet Knight in 14 seasons. She was named the Big East Rookie of the Year.

* Vanden's boys tennis team set a SCAC record with its 56th straight league victory in March, then added to the record through another 15-0 season. The Vikes' mark stands at 69 in a row. Greg DeLeon won the SCAC singles title, and Brandon Hust and Derrick Tran teamed up to capture the doubles crown. Vanden advanced to the section Division II semifinals, and finished the season 20-1.

* Vacaville hosted the Bobby Sox National Tournament of Champions softball event in July. Local age 14-under, 12-under and 6-under all-star teams all finished in second place.

* Vacaville cross country coach Kay Nekota was one of 25 finalists in a contest for the most inspirational running coach in the nation. She was the only nominee from Northern California.

* Vanden's softball team went deep into the playoff and finished with a 22-7 record.

* Wood's Mark Wudel was named one of three Sac-Joaquin Section athletic directors of the year for his work with the Wildcats.

* Vacaville's boys golf team won the MEL and advanced as a team to the section Masters tournament in May. Dixon also advanced to the event, along with Buckingham's Thomas Huddleston and Vacaville Christian's Scott Gardner.

* Vanden's girls tennis team won the SCAC with a 15-0 record, and advanced to the section Division II semifinals before losing to McClatchy of Sacramento 5-4. The Vikings were 17-1 overall.

* Vacaville Christian head football coach and athletic director Chris Smith resigned after 12 seasons leading the Falcons. He was placed on administrative leave by the school after problems with a team fund-raiser and student discipline issues, and resigned two weeks later. Smith posted an 84-44 record as the Falcons' only head football coach ever.

* Vanden's volleyball team reached the semifinals of the section Division III tournament. Vacaville Christian did the same in the Division V bracket.

* Will C. Wood senior Trevin Haseltine signed a national letter of intent to play baseball at Cal beginning next fall.

* The Vacaville Bengals youth football Junior Midget team beat Palo Alto 32-24 to win the American Youth Football Northern California Region Division One championship.

* Vacaville's Dirty Dozen youth baseball team won the age 13-under All World "World Series" in Carson City. The team finished the season with a 46-18 record.

* Vacaville's Brock Hekking was a starter at defensive end as a sophomore for Nevada's football team, which reached the New Mexico Bowl. Hekking was a second-team all-Mountain West Conference pick.